Brammo Empulse electric bike. Anyone got/want one?

[dapearson]

http://www.brammo.co.uk/empulse/

Spotted one of these in the carpark next to my office yesterday. Really cool looking bike. Bit like a Street Triple/S1000R.

I wasn't sure what it was, but some googling revealed it's £15k incl vat. About £1.30 to charge it (unless using a free charging point!). Range is between 60-120 miles depending on use. Performance is roughly equivalent to a 600cc bike, but with a top speed of only 110mph.

Battery is good for 1500 cycles, or approx 100,000 miles. Comes with a 5 yr/50,000 mile warranty.

Very impressed. I would definitely have one of these for my commute if it was within 20-40 miles of home.

Hopefully they'll succeed and not go the way of Vectrix...

[Prof Prolapse]

Never seen one, don't need one, can't afford one.

But would still like one. The nerd in me loves the idea of an electric bike.

[LiquidGnome]

Very heavy and the short range means I'd only be able to use it for commuting. I am curious how it rides though

[crofty1984]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

Polaris also own Victory and Indian I think? And they're very highly rated.

I like these new bikes. I have no need for one and wouldn't buy one, but I'm glad they exist and that some people DO want them. Nothing wrong with a bit of variety!*

• Note, this does NOT work as an excuse if your wife finds you with your fella up some other lady. If anything, it will make her angrier.

[daimatt]

I'd have one for commuting and general short journey duties but the price needs to come down a lot for me to buy one. How much are MT-07's? £6K? That's a lot of petrol,tax and servicing to make the difference. I'd like to think they can package one so that it looks and rides like a motorbike but has the storage of a scooter some day too.

[MrOrange]

I think a little bit cheaper than that - from €8,000 + VAT is about £7.5k.

I secretly fancy one (much like I quite like the idea of a Tesla, or an i8). But will probably cave in a buy a multi-strada instead

https://www.brammo.com/buy/

[EvoBarry]

I'm actually more tempted by the Zero bikes, but prices are still rather salty for my tastes.

http://www.zeromotorcycles.com/eu/

[dapearson]

MrOrange said:

I think a little bit cheaper than that - from €8,000 + VAT is about £7.5k.

I secretly fancy one (much like I quite like the idea of a Tesla, or an i8). But will probably cave in a buy a multi-strada instead

https://www.brammo.com/buy/

The importer is here: http://www.clean-transport.co.uk/

They're charging about £15k

[MrOrange]

How the hell do they justify that?

[dapearson]

MrOrange said:

How the hell do they justify that?

I guess because of the low volumes?

If they were £7k-£8k and could geniunely compete with the likes of the NC750, etc, they would surely be onto a winner?

[tvrolet]

Anyone want one? Polaris obviously did, as they bought the company. If they do anywhere near as good a job with Brammo as they did with Indian then I'd guess loads more folks will be wanting then too in the future.

Polaris also already own the GEM electric car/buggy/thingy business http://www.polaris.com/en-us/gem-electric-car/home But even before the acquisition I think Polaris has an interest in Brammo, but I gather it was for the battery and motor technology with the initial aim of putting it to use in one of their ATV ranges.

But with Harley having the LiveWire, given Polaris make better V-twins than Harley (but then I'm biased) I guess they want a better leccy bike too

[ZesPak]

EvoBarry said:

I'm actually more tempted by the Zero bikes, but prices are still rather salty for my tastes.

http://www.zeromotorcycles.com/eu/

I much prefer the look of the Brammo bikes, but zero seem to have the rideability, weight and range advantage.

I'm waiting for these. Seeing the Victorys and Indians, being picked up by Polaris can only be a herald of good things, surely?
http://www.cycleworld.com/2015/01/17/polaris-acqui...

Important excerpt from the polaris website:
http://www.polaris.com/en-us/company/news-item.asp...

Polaris said:

Polaris will utilize the assets acquired to begin manufacturing electric motorcycles in the second half of 2015 at its Spirit Lake, IA facility.

Although I've been on the edge a couple of times, I have yet to own a Polaris machine. My experience with the Victory and Indians though, however limited, is that they seem to offer very high quality, modern products, at a price point that should scare the mainstream competition and have them have a good long look at themselves.

So, I believe in this!
I'll be at the Brussels autoshow this weekend and I'll deffo have a look around the Polaris booth once more.

Edited by ZesPak on Wednesday 21st January 14:37

[leighz]

like the look of this myself: http://lightningmotorcycle.com/

[tvrolet]

ZesPak said:

Important excerpt from the polaris website:
http://www.polaris.com/en-us/company/news-item.asp...

Polaris said:

Polaris will utilize the assets acquired to begin manufacturing electric motorcycles in the second half of 2015 at its Spirit Lake, IA facility.

...and Spirit Lake is plant that makes the new Indians.

So the jury's out on whether any new bike will be a Victory, an Indian, or they'll keep the Brammo name. My money's not on the latter.

While I think it would sit well as a Victory, I've a sneaky feeling a new bike could come out as an Indian. Next year is the 75th Anniversary of Sturgis and I'm sure Indian want a big 'reveal' there. Sturgis was originally an Indian meet, but long since taken over by Harley (who have just paid to get Harley as 'the official bike of Sturgis'). Indian did the reveal of the Chiefs/Chieftains at Sturgis in 2013, and they revealed the Scout there in 2014. Historically Indian was a leading-edge brand, first with lots of things, and with HD having the electric bike I wouldn't be surprised if any new bike gets launched as an Indian at Sturgis. Remember Polaris designed and built the Chiefs/Chieftains from a clean sheet with a brand new motor, transmission, frame, running gear etc in under 3 years - so morphing a Brammo into an Indian product by the summer is not beyond the wit of man. Than again maybe Indian will get a longitudinal four to complete the 'classic' range, and the electric bike will a Victory. I just can't see Polaris wanting another stand-alone motorcycle brand when they've already got 2 dealer networks and a pretty solid reputation.

[accident]

electric bikes are a fine idea
but a 2 hour charge time is a bit pants.
also i use my bike as a fun thing so its not like i have to go somewhere or even know where im going till i get there.
its the journey thats important to me not the destination.

[Schtum]

Keith McKay onboard the Darvill Racing Brammo during practice for the Southern 100. Darvill Racing is what Slick Bass, Foggy's old spanner man, does nowadays.

Edited by Schtum on Thursday 22 January 00:05

[defblade]

I'd like one, would suit 99% of my riding, which is commuting, just fine. But even at £8k, I'd struggle to justify it.

[ZesPak]

The problem is, for commuting you'd have to compare it to the likes of the honda NC bikes.
Even at 20K km/year (~12k miles), to offset the purchase price, it take you seven years in fuel.
That's not calculating (admittedly, negligible) the electricity price, but really over calculating the fuel use for the Honda.

I've done the math and I couldn't get it to work. As a commuter, it would make the most sense, but honda NC's are cheap to purchase and are astonishingly efficient.

So, the only way I'd go for one is if it offered more than a good alternative, it would need to look seriously cool as well.

[JacquesMesrine]

Schtum said:

Keith McKay onboard the Darvill Racing Brammo during practice for the Southern 100. Darvill Racing is what Slick Bass, Foggy's old spanner man, does nowadays.

Edited by Schtum on Thursday 22 January 00:05

I'm sure Slick will move on, like everyone else, when he finds out how Darvill run things.

Utterly useless is the best interpretation.

[ZesPak]

Was at the car show this weekend, had a talk with the guys at the booth.
For our region at least, the dealer network is staying in place. They've got high hopes for the takeover and are promised announcements of new products as early as this year.

Curious to see where this is going. I've been saying electricity in a bike makes a lot of sense. You don't need half a metric stton of batteries to get an acceptable range.

The bike, at 216kg, felt a lot lighter than, for example, a bandit 600 for some reason (low CoG?).
Compared to the Zero, the Brammo looks a bit more like a proper bike. Dual discs in front (brembo calipers), wider tyres,...

The price did surprise me, positively, looks like, at this time, they cost about 60% of the equivalent Zero.